Methods and systems for operating a printer apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019308419-A1
Application number	US-201815947351-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 6, 2018
Priority date	Apr 6, 2018
Publication date	Oct 10, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

Various embodiments disclose a method for operating a printer apparatus. The method comprising monitoring a utilization rate of each heating element in a first set of heating elements defined by a print head arrangement. Further, the method comprises generating a utilization dataset based upon monitoring of the utilization rate of each heating element in the first set of heating elements print head arrangement. Furthermore, the method includes analyzing the utilization dataset to identify one or more overutilized heating elements of the first set of heating elements. Additionally, the method includes identifying a second set of heating elements defined by the print head arrangement. The second set of heating elements comprises a portion of the first set of heating elements exclusive of the one or more overutilized heating elements. The method further includes processing a print job. The processed print job utilized the second set of heating elements during printing.

First claim

1 . A method for operating a printer apparatus, the method comprising:
monitoring, by a monitoring unit, a utilization rate of each heating element in a first set of heating elements defined by a print head arrangement; generating, by the monitoring unit, a utilization dataset based upon monitoring of the utilization rate of each heating element in the first set of heating elements print head arrangement; analyzing, by a heating element identification unit, the utilization dataset to identify one or more overutilized heating elements of the first set of heating elements; identifying, by the heating element identification unit, a second set of heating elements defined by the print head arrangement, wherein the second set of heating elements comprises a portion of the first set of heating elements exclusive of the one or more overutilized heating elements; and processing, by a controller, a print job to determine a processed print job, wherein printing of the processed print job includes utilizing the second set of heating elements such that an energization of the overutilized heating elements is minimized.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the monitoring of the utilization rate of each heating element of the first set of heating elements further comprises determining, by the monitoring unit, an energization count for each heating element, wherein the energization count comprises the number of times each heating element is energized during printing of one or more print jobs.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein analyzing the utilization dataset further comprises comparing, by the heating element identification unit, the energization count of each heating element of the plurality of heating elements with a predetermined threshold energization count.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the predetermined threshold energization count defines an upper limit of the energization count, wherein if the energization count associated with a heating element of the first set of heating elements exceeds the predetermined threshold energization count, the heating element is determined to be overutilized.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein monitoring the utilization rate of each heating element of the first set of heating elements further comprises determining, by the heating element identification unit, an energization duration of each heating element, wherein the energization duration comprises the time period each heating element is energized during printing of one or more print jobs.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein analyzing the utilization dataset further comprises comparing, by the heating element identification unit, the energization duration of each heating element of the first set of heating elements with a predetermined threshold energization duration.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the predetermined threshold energization duration defines an upper limit of the energization duration, wherein if the energization count associated with a heating element exceeds the predetermined threshold energization duration, the heating element is determined to be overutilized.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein analyzing the utilization dataset further comprises determining, by the heating element identification unit, a likelihood to fail for each heating element of the first set of heating elements based on an energization count and an energization duration, associated with each heating element in the first set of heating elements.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein analyzing the utilization dataset further comprises comparing, by the heating element identification unit, the likelihood to fail for each heating element of the first set of heating elements with a predetermined failure threshold.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein processing the print job further comprises modifying, by a print job modification unit, the print job by modifying one or more of a size of a print job data, a position of the print job data, or a font type of the print job data, wherein printing the modified print job utilizes the second set of heating elements, and wherein the modified print job corresponds to the processed print job.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein processing the print job further comprises modifying, by a print job modification unit, the print job such that printing the modified print job utilizes one or more heating elements of the second set of heating elements and one or more heating elements of the one or more overutilized heating elements.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the heating element identification unit, a remaining life for each heating element of the first set of heating elements based on at least one of an energization count or an energization duration of the heating element.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , further comprising generating, by a notification unit, a notification identifying the remaining life for one or more of the heating elements.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising generating, by a notification unit, a notification in response to identification of the one or more overutilized heating elements.

15 . The method according to claim 1 further comprising generating, by a print job modification unit, one or more print job recommendations for display to a user, wherein a print job recommendation of the one or more print job recommendations comprises the processed print job that utilizes the second set of heating elements.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , further comprising receiving, by a notification unit, a user input selecting the print job recommendation.

17 . A printer apparatus comprising:
a print head arrangement comprising a first set of heating elements; and a controller coupled to the print head arrangement, wherein the controller is configured to:
monitor a utilization rate of each heating element in the first set of heating elements defined by the print head arrangement,
generate a utilization dataset based upon the monitoring of the utilization rate of each heating element in the first set of heating elements,
analyze the utilization dataset to identify one or more overutilized heating elements of the first set of heating elements,
identify a second set of heating elements defined by the print head arrangement, wherein the second set of heating elements comprises a portion of the first set of heating elements exclusive of the one or more overutilized heating elements, and
process a print job to determine a processed print job, wherein printing of the processed print job includes utilizing the second set of heating elements such that an energization of the overutilized heating elements is minimized.

18 . The printer apparatus according to claim 17 , further comprising a display screen configured to display a notification, wherein the notification comprises at least a histogram illustrating the utilization dataset.

19 . The printer apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate a notification in response to identifying one or more overutilized heating elements, wherein the notification comprises a life of each heating element in the first set of heating elements or a life of the print head arrangement.

20 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instru

Assignees

• Datamax Oneil Corp

Inventors

• Goetz Slawek

Classifications

• B41J2/3555 Primary

  Historical control · CPC title

• B41J2/04536

  using history data · CPC title

• B41J2/04513

  for increasing lifetime · CPC title

• B41J2/04515

  preventing overheating · CPC title

• B41J2/0458 Primary

  controlling heads based on heating elements forming bubbles · CPC title